Ski boot



Oct. 27, 1970 R. sTOHR 3,535,800

SKI BOOT Filed Nov. 7, 1968 I N VENTOR:

Rudolf 5t6hr BY W) lay;

ATTORNEYS United States Patent US. Cl. 36-2.5 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE A ski boot having an upper consisting of a foot part and aleg part and a pleated accordionlike part between and secured to thefoot and leg parts which permits them to be bent to a limited extentrelative to each other.

The present invention relates to improvements in ski boots.

In order to enable a skier to bend forwardly in normal skiing, the legpart of the upper of each ski boot, that is, the part which surroundsthe lower end of the leg above the angle joint, must be capable of beingbent forwardly relative to the main foot-enclosing part of the boot.Prior to this invention this has been achieved by the provision ofhinges which were built laterally into the upper. The use of such hingesusually required the upper to be made of two parts. Apart from the factthat the installation of such hinges was a complicated and expensiveprocedure and that the skier wearing such boots usually disliked thembecause of the disagreeable pressure which was exerted by these hingesupon his feet, the construction of the upper of several parts had thedisadvantage that moisture could penetrate easily into the upper.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a ski boot whichpermits the leg part of the upper to be bent forwardly relative to thelower foot part without requiring any hinges and which thus eliminatesthe abovemen tioned disadvantages which are due to the use of suchhinges.

According to the present invention this object is attained by providingespecially the heel part of the upper and preferably also its front partsubstantially at the level of the angle joint with a pleatedaccordionlike connecting part which is resilient under tension andpressure. This connecting part may be provided in the form of an insertbetween the leg and foot parts of the upper or if the upper is molded,for example, of plastic, the pleated connecting part may be moldedintegrally with the leg and foot parts of the upper. A ski boot whichhas a construction in accordance with the invention allows the skier therequired freedom of movement to bend his leg at the ankle jointforwardly from and back to a vertical position relative to the ski.

The features and advantages of the present invention will become furtherapparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to beread with reference to the accompanying drawing which shows a side viewof a ski boot according to the invention.

As illustrated in the drawing, the ski boot according to the inventioncomprises an upper the heel part of which is provided at the level ofthe ankle joint of the foot with a pleated accordion-like insert 1 andwith a similar insert 2 Within the closure flap 3. The pleated insert 2has a straplike end 2' projecting from the closure flap 3 for closingthe latter when this end 2' is connected to an element on the lateralside of the upper. According to the embodiment of the invention as shownin the drawing, this connecting element consists of a snap fastener thesnap button 4 of which is connected to the strap-like end 2 of theinsert 2, while its counterpart is mounted on a resilient strap 5 oneend of which is secured by seams 6 to one side of the upper near theheel. This resilient strap 5 may consist, for example, of a strip offabric containing rubber threads and may be expanded primarily in thedirection of the traction which acts upon the end 2' of the pleatedinsert 2 when the snap fastener is closed.

This resilient strap 5 and a rotatable connection of the snap button 4to the end 2' of the pleated insert 2 further increase the freemoveability of the lower part of the leg of the skier relative to hisfoot. Of course, in place of a snap fastener with a rotatable snapbutton, it is also possible to provide any other suitable rotatablejoint between the end 2' of the pleated insert 2 and the body of theupper.

As indicated in the drawing, the pleats of the inserts 1 and 2 convergein the direction toward the lateral sides of the upper where the ends ofthe corresponding pleats of both inserts substantially meet each other.This prevents the occurrence of a torque from the forces which areconducted in the direction of the pleats toward the lateral sides of theupper.

The additional means as indicated in the drawing for closing and openingthe closure fiap 3 may be of any desired type and do not form a part ofthe present invention.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with referenceto the preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood thatit is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capableof numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim is:

1. A ski boot comprising an upper having a leg part adapted to be bentforwardly relative to the lower footenclosing part, and a pleatedaccordion-like resilient part within the front area of said upperintermediate said leg part and said foot part, said upper having aclosure flap and said pleated part being provided within said flap, andmeans for releasably connecting the end of said pleated part of saidflap to a lateral side of said upper.

2. A ski boot as defined in claim 6, in which said upper has a secondpleated accordion-like resilient part at least within the heel area ofsaid upper intermediate and secured to said leg part and said foot part.

3. A ski boot as defined in claim 1., in which said end of said pleatedpart projects like a strap from the remainder of said closure fiap, saidconnecting means comprising at least two parts adapted to be connectedto and disconnected from each other and secured to said projecting endand to the main body of said upper, respectively.

4. A ski booth as defined in claim 3, in which at least one of saidconnecting parts is rotatable.

5. A ski boot as defined in claim 3, in which said connecting partscomprise operatively associated snap fastening elements.

6. A ski boot as defined in claim 5, in which said connecting part onsaid projecting end consists of a snap button which is rotatably mountedon said end of said second pleated part.

7. A ski boot as defined in claim 3, further comprising a resilientstrap secured at one end to said main body of said upper, one of saidconnecting parts being secured to the other end of said strap.

8. A ski boot as defined in claim 7, in which said strap is resilientprimarily in the direction of the traction acting upon said connectingmeans.

9. A ski boot as defined in claim 1, in which said upper including saidpleated part is molded integrally of a plastic.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS PATRICK D. LAWSON, PrimaryExaminer US. Cl. X.R. 36-45

